{news} Dennis Hamilton 1942-2008

[allan brison]

Friends, The progressive activist community of New Haven has lost one of its most beloved members yesterday. Dennis Hamilton passed away after having been stricken by a heart attack the day before. He was in New Hampshire with Heiwa Salovitz when he felt sick and checked into the local hospital. Joan Cavanaugh and Frank Panzarella drove up and, along with Heiwa, were with him when he died. Dennis was to fly to West Africa later this week to assist  in a drilling project to provide villagers with water. Dennis combined a warm personality with a passion for justice. He was close to the epicenter of most of the progressive activism in New Haven. He was a person of many talents. As an accomplished pianist,  he performed at my 70th birthday party in June playing songs my mother may have been listening to in 1938, the year of my birth. Earlier in the year he had done the same thing for Sally Joughin at her 70th birthday celebration. He was also an accomplished problem solver. He always seemed to know what to do in a crisis. A couple of years ago, for example, while on a train returning from an anti-war protest in DC, I noticed that my daughter was not on the train with me. Dennis got on his cell phone and quickly determined that she was on the next train to leave DC, and then he arranged with the conductor's of the two trains to have me transferred from the one train to the other at the next stop. My wife and I have known Dennis for most of the 12 years that we have been in New Haven. I believe that I met him at Sally Joughin's house at a PAI (People Against Injustice) meeting, Betsy knew him as a library patron. As a registered Green, Dennis was an invaluable help in my two campaigns for public office. An accomplished phone banker, he played a major part in the Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort which provided my margin of victory last November. He will be greatly missed. Allan  
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